Many people like to make New Year’s resolutions for themselves. Sometimes it’s diet; sometimes it’s about money; sometimes it’s about changing some aspect of personality or personal conduct.
I think it’s high time our government did the same thing.
So, Uncle Sam, listen up. Here are some resolutions for you.
· Pay down that damn national debt. $23 trillion, and the resulting $574 billion per year interest, is as mind-boggling as it is unsustainable. This problem for the government is just like that of individuals – wanting to have it all, without having to pay anything or make tough choices. That won’t work. Unfortunately, the Democrats don’t want to cut any civilian spending, and the Republicans don’t want to cut any military or law enforcement spending. So they compromise by voting for each other’s unlimited spending programs. This must stop. Uncle Sam, you can either stop this on your own by making the tough choices, or your citizens and foreign governments might lose confidence and stop using your dollars. The next step would be someone else, such as the United Nations or the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank making the choices for you. You won’t like that at all. Cut up your credit card before someone else does it for you.
· Clean up the military procurement process. Right now, Uncle Sam, you’re like a boxer with a beer gut – you can throw a formidable punch, but that beer gut is slowing you down a lot. It really shouldn’t take decades to field new weapons systems. It’s time to consider simpler and cheaper (and made in the United States as much as possible) weapons systems rather than gold-plated weapons systems that do more to enrich military contractors rather than to win wars. Pay more attention to defending the United States rather than foreign adventures which usually cost much more blood and treasure than they are worth. For more, click here and here.
· It’s time for a really serious space program -- not just military surveillance or communication satellites. Bring back the spirit of Apollo. Return to the Moon. Go to Mars. Start mining the Asteroid Belt. The Space Force is a good step in this direction – make sure that it’s not strangled by government and corporate status-quo types. The good news is that space ventures are being handled more and more by the private sector. Space mining won’t pollute Earth’s environment, and will provide jobs. Uncle Sam, if you don’t get out to the High Frontier, someone else will seize control of it – and you won’t like that. For much more on this, read A Step Farther Out, The Case for Space, or Pale Blue Dot. Spacefaring America is a good read too.
· Return to your roots of limited government and federalism. Throw out a lot of laws, most of which were passed before big data, smartphones, and the Internet. You’ve changed a lot; you can’t turn back the clock. Your old ways of doing things won’t work anymore; you need new ways. Return as much power as possible to state and local governments. The point of federalism is to allow for state and local differences. Trying to make everything a federal matter is one reason why there is so much political hatred – each camp fears that the other will use the power of the federal government against it. “Don’t make a federal case of it” was an old saying. Nowadays, you hardly hear that. Less laws – less law enforcement – less prisons – less spending – less debt – more liberty. Sounds like a winner to me!
It’s a new year. There are lots of possibilities. Uncle Sam, it’s time for you to turn over a new leaf.